HGST Starts Shipping 6 TB Hard Drives

More is better, is that not how it goes? Well, HGST, a Western Digital subsidiary, has started shipping its new 6 TB Ultrastar He 6 hard drive. This is not available to the average consumer though, as the drive only ships to huge data centers, such as Netflix, Cern, Code42 and the like. However, we might see the technology used slowly make its way into home user drives.

What makes this drive special is that instead of having atmospheric air inside the drive, HGST used helium due to its very low density. This reduces drag on the spinning disks, which lowers the mechanical power needed to drive the motor. The 6 TB hard drive has seven platters locked in a hermetically sealed enclosure. The drive manages some impressive power savings with a 23 percent lower idle power consumption compared to a 3.5 inch 4 TB hard drive with five platters and filled with regular air, 49 percent better watts per TB, runs cooler and is up to 30 percent quieter.